CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Shares Sold by Mission Wealth Management LP

Mission Wealth Management LP lessened its holdings in shares of CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) by 60.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,169 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 6,287 shares during the quarter. Mission Wealth Management LP’s holdings in CME Group were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CME. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in CME Group by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 7,810 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,723,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of CME Group by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 785,082 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $173,228,000 after acquiring an additional 64,499 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 4.1% in the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $6,975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 77.8% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,298 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in CME Group in the third quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.75% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of CME Group from $256.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on CME Group from $258.00 to $269.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays upped their price target on CME Group from $257.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on CME Group from $227.00 to $226.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $255.00 to $250.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.13.

Insider Activity

In other CME Group news, insider Julie Winkler sold 11,592 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.17, for a total transaction of $2,888,378.64. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 21,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,453,085.45. This trade represents a 34.63 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Suzanne Sprague sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.83, for a total value of $385,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,063,885.88. This trade represents a 15.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,076 shares of company stock worth $4,271,496. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

CME Group Price Performance

CME opened at $251.98 on Wednesday. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $258.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The firm has a market cap of $90.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.06, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $239.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $229.89.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The financial services provider reported $2.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.46 by $0.06. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. Equities research analysts expect that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. This is a positive change from CME Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. CME Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.71%.

CME Group announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, December 5th that allows the company to buyback $3.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the financial services provider to reacquire up to 3.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.